Former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop to Lead Microsoft's Xbox Division

[The White Hunter]

Well that's just fantastic, I'ms ure the Xbox division will thrive as well as Nokia's windows phone business did under this gentleman

I thought it was the push towards the Windows platform that did Nokia in, but then I searched 'Stephen Elop.'

Good grief.

Well it was nice knowing you Xbone, take heart that you at least out of the running for the wooden spoon as I doubt the WiiU can drag itself fast enough to overtake you without coughing up a lung.

So! Who's up for round 9?

Goodness no. Windows 8 on phones is actually quite nice to use, it's snappy and responsive with a lot of nice, strong functionality inside. It's not great if you spend alot of time using your phone but it's decidedly efficient, having particularly good unifcation of your mail accounts and such.

Elop is just an awful awful man.

Edit: Also, the investors don't necessarily want Xbox sold, so much as they want it to exists as a seperate entity from Microsoft's business activities (office, skydrive, etc). Rather, to spin it off into it's own ludicrous subsidiary of sorts.

 

[ClockworkUniverse]

Okay, since this is pretty obviously the first step to selling, let's speculate: who is willing and able to buy? Sony and Nintendo would both be happy to just eliminate it, but neither is in a position to make that purchase right now. One suggestion I've heard is Samsung. I'm reasonably certain they're able, and they know how to make some hardware, so while I won't call it more than a guess, it seems viable. Would be interesting to see a major game system being made by a Korean company.

 

[Shamanic Rhythm]

We all know Elop's history with Nokia, but... can he really be worse than Don Mattrick?

 

[ClockworkUniverse]

We all know Elop's history with Nokia, but... can he really be worse than Don Mattrick?

Don Mattrick wanted the Xbox to exist. Elop doesn't. So...well, it really depends. If he sells it to a company that actually does well with it, that could be okay, I guess. But if it ends up in worse hands (or if nobody's buying), that might be a different story.

 

[Sol_HSA]

Stephen Elop is considered the one who destroyed Nokia...

The way I understand it, Nokia was internally in trouble before Stephen stepped in. However, the way he handled things could have been done much better, unless his intention really was to cut down the share value.

Burning platforms aside, the whole marketing message of "everything we have on the market now is crap and won't be supported, but wait a year and we'll have some great things" isn't the way to do business.

Compare that to Apple's "yeah, we have this thingy that sells well, but we'll stop selling it because look, we have this new hotness that's available in stores now!". .. or that's how apple did things while Jobs was still around, anyway.

 

[FalloutJack]

May as well hire Bob from accounting to act as a play-tester. Oh sure, he could do it, but there'd be about a million people better-suited.

 

[Strazdas]

So hiring the guy that ran nokia into the ground to run Xbox into the ground. Looks like Microsoft is doing world a favour now

Yeah, this is a sad day for the gaming industry. These corporations, man. They keep putting people who know nothing about the video game industry in charge of the video game industry.

I dont think XboxOne death is sad. On the contrary, its the worst platform we have and is holding things down.

Yeah because its not like he knows how to run a world wide production and distribution system of electronic devices or anything. You dont have to know about how to make TV shows to manufacture televisions.

Considering that he ran Nokia into the ground, no, he doesnt.

It almost seems like they are trying to set up Xbox to fail.

well, to be honest Xbox One seems trying as hard as possible to suicide without flat out shutting down. its like everything the higher ups there do are doing more harm than good.

But... but I thought Nokias were indestructible.

I guess only the pre-Elop Nokias were indestructible?

old nokias were indestructible. new ones as brittle as any other phone. even more so from what little anecdotal evidence i saw.

Is it REALLY that difficult to understand that you need someone that understands gaming, to be in charge of gaming? It seems like every day something comes up that just makes me want to bang my head on the desk repeatedly.

They tried. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/126866-Former-Steam-Boss-Joins-Microsoft-Games-Division]
He quit in 6 months [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/132207-Former-Steam-Director-Leaves-Microsoft-After-Six-Months]
ALso if the pictures are accurate, in those 6 months he aged 10 years.

Goodness no. Windows 8 on phones is actually quite nice to use, it's snappy and responsive with a lot of nice, strong functionality inside. It's not great if you spend alot of time using your phone but it's decidedly efficient, having particularly good unifcation of your mail accounts and such.

i dont use it myself but people that do tell me its pretty much impossible to turn off apps like skype. like, at all. the girl is complaining about skype eating her bandwitch and windwos phone simply restarting it every time she turns it off.

 

[Riff Moonraker]

So hiring the guy that ran nokia into the ground to run Xbox into the ground. Looks like Microsoft is doing world a favour now

Yeah, this is a sad day for the gaming industry. These corporations, man. They keep putting people who know nothing about the video game industry in charge of the video game industry.

I dont think XboxOne death is sad. On the contrary, its the worst platform we have and is holding things down.

Yeah because its not like he knows how to run a world wide production and distribution system of electronic devices or anything. You dont have to know about how to make TV shows to manufacture televisions.

Considering that he ran Nokia into the ground, no, he doesnt.

It almost seems like they are trying to set up Xbox to fail.

well, to be honest Xbox One seems trying as hard as possible to suicide without flat out shutting down. its like everything the higher ups there do are doing more harm than good.

But... but I thought Nokias were indestructible.

I guess only the pre-Elop Nokias were indestructible?

old nokias were indestructible. new ones as brittle as any other phone. even more so from what little anecdotal evidence i saw.

Is it REALLY that difficult to understand that you need someone that understands gaming, to be in charge of gaming? It seems like every day something comes up that just makes me want to bang my head on the desk repeatedly.

They tried. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/126866-Former-Steam-Boss-Joins-Microsoft-Games-Division]
He quit in 6 months [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/132207-Former-Steam-Director-Leaves-Microsoft-After-Six-Months]
ALso if the pictures are accurate, in those 6 months he aged 10 years.

Goodness no. Windows 8 on phones is actually quite nice to use, it's snappy and responsive with a lot of nice, strong functionality inside. It's not great if you spend alot of time using your phone but it's decidedly efficient, having particularly good unifcation of your mail accounts and such.

i dont use it myself but people that do tell me its pretty much impossible to turn off apps like skype. like, at all. the girl is complaining about skype eating her bandwitch and windwos phone simply restarting it every time she turns it off.

I'm sorry, but anyone who wishes to see the xbox fail go out of business has lost their mind. That, to me, is the very bottom of the rung of extremism. Let the Wii U and the Xbox One go out of business, and when your only option is Sony, its not going to work out for consumers in the long run. They will have no one challenging them, and will be able to basically dictate to console owners what they can and cannot have. If you think Sony is so altruistic that they wouldnt do it, then you need to wake up. Also, while I am willing to admit as an xbox fan that I am not happy with alot of their decisions lately, you seem to forget that they are still selling like crazy, and are having their biggest console launch yet. As others have already said, its simply overshadowed because the PS4 is selling even better.

I can also assure you that the PS4 is selling as good as it is BECAUSE of the Xbox One, and their mistakes with this launch, which further proves my point. The PS4 would be a very different thing if they hadnt seen the pitchforks and torches forming around Microsoft, and I have no doubt of that. I do not like Sony, and I will never own a Playstation, and I want the Xbox to be the best console in the business... however, I am not going to EVER wish for the competition to go out of business, because its insanity.

 

[Strazdas]

I'm sorry, but anyone who wishes to see the xbox fail go out of business has lost their mind. That, to me, is the very bottom of the rung of extremism. Let the Wii U and the Xbox One go out of business, and when your only option is Sony, its not going to work out for consumers in the long run. They will have no one challenging them, and will be able to basically dictate to console owners what they can and cannot have. If you think Sony is so altruistic that they wouldnt do it, then you need to wake up. Also, while I am willing to admit as an xbox fan that I am not happy with alot of their decisions lately, you seem to forget that they are still selling like crazy, and are having their biggest console launch yet. As others have already said, its simply overshadowed because the PS4 is selling even better.

I can also assure you that the PS4 is selling as good as it is BECAUSE of the Xbox One, and their mistakes with this launch, which further proves my point. The PS4 would be a very different thing if they hadnt seen the pitchforks and torches forming around Microsoft, and I have no doubt of that. I do not like Sony, and I will never own a Playstation, and I want the Xbox to be the best console in the business... however, I am not going to EVER wish for the competition to go out of business, because its insanity.

A console that has been a loss, employs anticonsumer practices with attempt to go to extremes with that, is more of a TV center than games console and is holding the market back with obsolete at launch hardware. Sure i want it to fail. And no i havent lost my mind either.
Im sorry, but sony WONT be the only option. there is more to gaming than 3 old consoles. What is insane is ignoring pc, handheld and mobile markets. there are plenty of choices and if consoles is a good idea new competitors would spring up anyway. removing uncompetetive loss creation is good for consumers in the long run.
They are having best console launch compared to their other products - a failure Xbox and a 30+% dead on arrival Xbox 360. Sure thats great they are actually working this time.

PS4 may be selling well because its the only console with at least pretense of being for the consumers rather than against them. Console players is not a zero sum game. Xbox loosing costumers does not automatically mean playstation gaining them or the other way around.

When a bad company is doing bad things they should be pushed out of business by better company doing better things. At the moment Xbox is the bad company. Keeping bad people around only spoils it for the rest of the bunch. You know the saying, one rotten apple...

 

[The White Hunter]

Goodness no. Windows 8 on phones is actually quite nice to use, it's snappy and responsive with a lot of nice, strong functionality inside. It's not great if you spend alot of time using your phone but it's decidedly efficient, having particularly good unifcation of your mail accounts and such.

i dont use it myself but people that do tell me its pretty much impossible to turn off apps like skype. like, at all. the girl is complaining about skype eating her bandwitch and windwos phone simply restarting it every time she turns it off.

I've managed to shut off apps likew Skype just fine, and as for eating bandwidth she must have some shitty connection bottleneck somerwhere.

And the restarting thing I dunno what to tell you, it's always gone off when I've told it.

 

[Genocidicles]

You dont have to know about how to make TV shows to manufacture televisions.

Yeah but it would help if they watched TV at least once a week, so they can get an idea of what television watchers are looking for in a TV.

 

[Riff Moonraker]

I'm sorry, but anyone who wishes to see the xbox fail go out of business has lost their mind. That, to me, is the very bottom of the rung of extremism. Let the Wii U and the Xbox One go out of business, and when your only option is Sony, its not going to work out for consumers in the long run. They will have no one challenging them, and will be able to basically dictate to console owners what they can and cannot have. If you think Sony is so altruistic that they wouldnt do it, then you need to wake up. Also, while I am willing to admit as an xbox fan that I am not happy with alot of their decisions lately, you seem to forget that they are still selling like crazy, and are having their biggest console launch yet. As others have already said, its simply overshadowed because the PS4 is selling even better.

I can also assure you that the PS4 is selling as good as it is BECAUSE of the Xbox One, and their mistakes with this launch, which further proves my point. The PS4 would be a very different thing if they hadnt seen the pitchforks and torches forming around Microsoft, and I have no doubt of that. I do not like Sony, and I will never own a Playstation, and I want the Xbox to be the best console in the business... however, I am not going to EVER wish for the competition to go out of business, because its insanity.

A console that has been a loss, employs anticonsumer practices with attempt to go to extremes with that, is more of a TV center than games console and is holding the market back with obsolete at launch hardware. Sure i want it to fail. And no i havent lost my mind either.
Im sorry, but sony WONT be the only option. there is more to gaming than 3 old consoles. What is insane is ignoring pc, handheld and mobile markets. there are plenty of choices and if consoles is a good idea new competitors would spring up anyway. removing uncompetetive loss creation is good for consumers in the long run.
They are having best console launch compared to their other products - a failure Xbox and a 30+% dead on arrival Xbox 360. Sure thats great they are actually working this time.

PS4 may be selling well because its the only console with at least pretense of being for the consumers rather than against them. Console players is not a zero sum game. Xbox loosing costumers does not automatically mean playstation gaining them or the other way around.

When a bad company is doing bad things they should be pushed out of business by better company doing better things. At the moment Xbox is the bad company. Keeping bad people around only spoils it for the rest of the bunch. You know the saying, one rotten apple...

Again, I am sorry, but the One is not a loss, nor is it losing Microsoft money. Its also not a failure. Plus, you tossed in a jab at the 360, which was NOT a failure at all. It was ultimately the better console of the last gen, for alot of reasons, and the only reason it wasnt better than it was, in my opinion, was because of the hardware issues. Also, I didnt ignore handhelds, or the PC, as this particular conversation had nothing to do with them and everything to do with consoles. Consoles would be the Xbox 360/One, PS3/PS4, and the Wii/Wii U. You are straying from my point, entirely. Also you make it like the Xbox has done nothing but fail, and that is completely wrong. As I recall, the PS3 was in the exact same situation as the One is now, last gen at launch... except... the One has probably sold more at launch than the PS3 did.

 

[Strazdas]

I've managed to shut off apps likew Skype just fine, and as for eating bandwidth she must have some shitty connection bottleneck somerwhere.

And the restarting thing I dunno what to tell you, it's always gone off when I've told it.

well, maybe she just doesnt know how to use it then.
while we do have the best internet in the world, we are quite poor which means that people rarely buy more than 1GB per month for mobile internet. (mobile internet being the only one with bandwitch caps around, everyone else moved past this nonesense). and i know from experience 1 GB is really not enough for a month.

Again, I am sorry, but the One is not a loss, nor is it losing Microsoft money. Its also not a failure. Plus, you tossed in a jab at the 360, which was NOT a failure at all. It was ultimately the better console of the last gen, for alot of reasons, and the only reason it wasnt better than it was, in my opinion, was because of the hardware issues. Also, I didnt ignore handhelds, or the PC, as this particular conversation had nothing to do with them and everything to do with consoles. Consoles would be the Xbox 360/One, PS3/PS4, and the Wii/Wii U. You are straying from my point, entirely. Also you make it like the Xbox has done nothing but fail, and that is completely wrong. As I recall, the PS3 was in the exact same situation as the One is now, last gen at launch... except... the One has probably sold more at launch than the PS3 did.

They are selling at a loss. XboxOne software hasto recoup that AND its research and developement costs. Also the costs of thier first failed APU design. Xbox division as a whole even with its extortionate Live costs is still a loss when summed up. here look at this article http://www.neowin.net/news/report-microsofts-xbox-division-has-lost-nearly-3-billion-in-10-years
360 was beter only because it had no competition. Wii was its own thing and not a competition while PS3 was designed as a supercomputer and not as a console, it was great at math and terrible at videogames. So yes, its easy to be better when your the only one around.
No, this coversation has to do with gaming. Gaming is not limited to consoles. Console players game on PCs and handhelds and the other way around. limiting yourself to consoles only is very stupid way of looking at things.
Xbox has done nothing but fail and anticonsumer practices. And yes, PS3 was at the same position, and look it took him 8 years to catch up. Thing is, even with the failure that it was it still sold better everywhere but NA. not the case here where PS4 beat Xbox even un US that was dominated by xbox before.

Your point was tat there is only Xbox or PS as an option and as such it was flawed to begin with, therefore i expanded it to be more realistic with involving most of the gaming market. yet you still cling to that incorrect assumtion that consoles are all we should care about. thier are not. if anything they seem to be the cancer of gaming now.